Gold Coast United will be desperate for a win over their Queensland rivals here after dropping points to second-placed Adelaide United on Friday night.
Miron Bleiberg's men face a defensive shortage against the Fury with Dino Djulbic sitting out because of suspension, adding to the absence of Michael Thwaite and goalkeeper Glen Moss.
Add to that the suspension of James Brown and injury to Joel Porter and United have a good chunk of their first team in the stands.
But on recent form, Gold Coast should be far too good for a North Queensland outfit that has not won in five matches and are rooted to the bottom of the league table.
A win would send them to 30 points from 16 matches and within striking distance of the Reds who aure currently seven points clear with two games in hand.
Verdict: Gold Coast 2-1
Gold Coast United vs. North QLD FuryDate: Wednesday, 1 December 2010 Venue: Skilled Park, Robina Local kick-off: 8:00pm (9.00pm AEDT) Referee: Matthew Breeze Head-to-Head: All matches (played 4): Gold Coast United wins 2, North Queensland Fury wins 2 (0 draws)
Live and exclusive broadcast on FOX Sports 2, FS2 HD & Sky Sports 2 (NZ). Hyundai A-League club broadcast partner is Zinc 100.7 (Townsville). To purchase tickets visit www.ticketek.com.au
Gold Coast United squad: 20.Scott HIGGINS [gk], 2.Steve PANTELIDIS, 5.ROBSON, 7.Zenon CARAVELLA, 8.ANDERSON, 10.Jason CULINA (c), 11.Bruce DJITE, 13.Bas VAN DEN BRINK, 16.Kristian REES, 19.Andrew BARISIC, 22.Adama TRAORE, 23.Steve FITZSIMMONS, 24.John CURTIS, 26.Ben HALLORAN, 29.Zac ANDERSON, 30.Jerrad TYSON [gk], 31.Joshua BRILLANTE *two to be omitted* In: 19.Andrew BARISIC (promoted), 26.Ben HALLORAN (promoted), 29.Zac ANDERSON (promoted), 31.Joshua BRILLANTE (promoted) Out: 6.Dino DJULBIC (suspended - 1 game), 18.James BROWN (suspended - 1 game) Unavailable: Glen MOSS [gk] (ankle injury - 1 week), James BROWN (suspended - 1 game), Dino DJULBIC (suspended - 1 game), Michael THWAITE (ankle injury - 1 week), Joel PORTER (hamstring injury - 2 weeks), Chris BROADFOOT (knee injury - 8 weeks), Golgol MEBRAHTU (knee injury - 2 weeks), Daniel PIORKOWSKI (ankle injury - indefinite), Matt OSMAN (knee injury - indefinite)
North Queensland Fury squad: 1. Justin PASFIELD (gk), 2. Jack HINGERT, 5. Mark HUGHES, 6. Ufuk TALAY (c), 7. Gareth EDDS, 9. Eugene SSEPPUYA, 10. Dyron DAAL, 11. David WILLIAMS, 12. Panagiotis NIKAS, 13. Andre KILIAN, 16. Simon STOREY, 17. Osama Malik, 21. Jason SPAGNUOLO, 24. Ramazan TAVSANCIOGLU, 28. Sebastian USAI (gk) In: 2. Jack HINGERT (promoted), 9. Eugene SSEPPUYA (promoted), 21. Jason SPAGNUOLO (promoted) Out: 3. Brad McDONALD (omitted), 15. Chris PAYNE (omitted), 19. Isaka CERNAK (knee - awaiting scan results) Unavailable: 4. Eric AKOTO (knee - 3 weeks), 8. Adam CASEY (ankle - 1 week), 14. Chris GROSSMAN (knee - 3 weeks), 20. Matthew HAM (knee - out for the season)
